Ever wonder how co-champs and ties in an NCAA championship event work?
With only one trophy to split between two co-champs, it turns out the NCAA has an intricate system for determining who gets to keep it.
For those wondering, the NCAA has an intricate official procedure for who gets to take home the trophy if there’s a tie at the top. 😜 pic.twitter.com/wPZptkVE3M
— Mark Williams (@wellsgymn) April 21, 2026
Oklahoma’s Tyler Flores and Stanford’s Jun Iwai both finished with a score of 14.433 on vault, securing them both the national championship in the event. After a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Flores walked away from his co-champ, Iwai, with the trophy.
Iwai will still receive one in the mail.
Fans reacted to the NCAA official telling the champs to play the classic kids game for the trophy:
Honestly, it’s more transparent than most judging panels. https://t.co/vXlQWu9oxq
— Dr. Starsky (@StarskyGym) April 21, 2026
if I tied and then lost the trophy on rock paper scissors I would cry
— WOGA basement (@cameliacrave) April 21, 2026
The 7th men’s event: rock paper scissors.
— Caroline Price (@carolineoprice) April 21, 2026
Should the NCAA have more trophies on hand, or is rock, paper, scissors the official tiebreaker of the NCAA?
